Disclaimer: Maria Frank is my own creation.

chapter 5: Two Weeks Notice

The next morning, Maria woke up with her back pressed up against John's stomach. His arm was lazily draped over her waist and his chin rested in the crook of her neck, his soft snoring causing her to snuggle closer to his warmth. Reaching down, she took a light hold of his warm hand and traced his long fingers, palm and knuckles. After spending time outlining his hand and wrist, she knew that she had to get up and get to Alex. Pulling herself from his grasp, she covered him with the blanket, kissing his forehead and took off to the shower.

Exiting the shower and drying off, she was deep in thought of when she was going to leave. Maria Frank didn't want to pack up and leave in a few days. That just wasn't a plan and that wasn't her. Pulling her clothes back on, she glanced over at John, who was wrapped around the pillow she had been using. She couldn't help but smile at him. Why does he look so young when he sleeps? she thought as she ran her fingers through his hair.

Walking into the kitchen, she pulled out a notepad and pen, left him an note, grabbed his keys and drove to her apartment. Cleaning up Alex's midnight messes, Maria started thinking again. She had told Gee that she had to go back early, but when had to be so hard. As she opened her apartment window to air it out, her phone rang, breaking her thoughts. Sighing, she answered it and hoped it was not her captain. "Maria speaking."

A tired voice came over the phone. "Why didn't you wake me up? I could have helped you clean up."

Leaning against the wall, she told him her honest answer. "I didn't want to wake you up. I just had to have some time to think. I'll be back in a few minutes with Alex. You'd better be dressed when I get back." She smirked as she heard him chuckle on the other end.

"And if I'm not dressed when you get back?"

"Then you might as well call in sick." She smiled, looking down at Alex, his chew bone in his mouth.

"I think the big man might get suspicious with that call." She could hear him open something wooden.

"No kidding. Alex is all ready to go, so I'll see you in a little bit."

Grabbing her shoulder bag, ran her fingers through her slightly damp hair and herding Alex out the door, she made it do John's place in 10 minutes flat. Entering, she could see him working on buttoning up his shirt, slowly. "Ok, well, I guess I would consider that dressed." She said, walking forward and helping him button up. "Never thought that I would have someone help me dress. Not even my exes would help."

"Your exes are no longer in you life, right?" Realized what she just said, her face dropped when she saw the sadness fill his face. "Oh, shit. Oh, John... I'm so sorry." She leaned forward and placed her forehead against his chest.

Sighing, he kissed the top of her head before speaking. "Don't worry about it. I made a promise to myself to not dwell it what's coming and help you instead. Now, have you thought of when you'll be leaving?" Putting his hands on her shoulders, he pushed her back to get a good look of her face.

She felt pained by what she had to say to him. "I'm thinking two weeks. I'm going to give Al my two weeks notice today and hand in all that paperwork today as well." John could feel his heart sinking. Only two weeks and she had three months to go. Now, those two weeks were going to fly by like nothing.

Swallowing he nodded and looked at his watch. He knew they had to get going. "Can we talk about this later?" He asked, reaching for his keys from her hand.

"Sure we can." She replied as they headed out the door. Arriving at the station, Maria walked straight over to Gee's office, knowing that she had to tell him the plan. Knocking on the door, she took a deep breath and opened the door. "Sir, can we talk for a minute?"

Gee looked up from his desk and looked at her. "Sure. Have a seat."

She sat down and took a deep breath before speaking. "I know that I said that I would leave earlier then planned. I do want to keep that plan, but I also have planned when I'm going to leave." Al folded his hands and listened intently. "I'm giving you my two weeks notice. I hope that it's not too soon for you, sir."

Reaching into his desk, he pulled out a few papers. "What works for you is fine by me. I got a call from your captain - he wants you to call him as soon as possible. From the recent events, you have an idea of what it's about."

Maria nodded as she took the papers from his hand. " 'Kay. I'll get these filed out and call him." She stood and got ready to leave the room when she heard him speak again.

"It was a great experience having you here. Alex as well. For what you did for Diane Zebre and her family and for all the cases. You have been an enjoyable addition to our team." Maria gave a small nod before returning to her desk. John looked over his glasses and watched her carefully as she picked up the phone and dialed a number. Looking back down at his papers, he listened carefully as she started speaking into the phone.

"Hey, Cap. It's Maria."

"Maria! Great to hear from you! I heard that you're planning to come back early. Idea of when?" His gruff Boston voice sounded tired on the other end. From everything that had been happening, the poor man hadn't had a good night's sleep for a week now.

"I just gave him two weeks notice. I have the paperwork in front of me now." She reached into her desk and pulled out her pen.

"Wonderful. You have no idea how much we need you right now. We lost another family."

Maria felt her heart drop. "Who?"

"The Franklin's." She heard a heavy sigh from her boss.

"Oh, fuck. The baby as well?" John lifted his head a little, hearing the pain in her voice.

"Sadly, yes. They found the 14 month old in the tub. Still waiting for what the M.E says."

"I heard that one detective was let go. Tell me that it was Kevin."

"Yep. We had to let him go. He just...lost it. The shrink believes that he is close to a meltdown." She could hear him leaning back in his chair from the sound of the creaking.

Sighing, she leaned back, not believing what she was going to see when she got back. "Alright, cap. I'll let you know if anything changes." Hanging up, she peeked over at John and saw the sadness and concern in his eyes. "I'm sorry." She mouthed to him.

He could only lower his eyes in reply. I am, too, Maria. I am, too.